Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Lost ’90s Epic Was His Pirates of the Caribbean

Image: Arrow/Universal Pictures

From the primal ferocity of Conan the Barbarian to the calculated menace of a T-800, and even the comedic absurdity of Junior, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career trajectory by the mid-90s was nothing short of legendary. Yet, there remains one strange void in his filmography: the pirate genre. Following the back-to-back success of True Lies and Junior, the Hollywood machine briefly flirted with the idea of turning the ultimate action titan into a swashbuckling captain.

In a conversation regarding the 30th-anniversary retrospective of Eraser, director Chuck Russell unveiled a long-lost secret: before they collaborated on the 1996 high-octane thriller, he and Schwarzenegger were deep into pre-production on an ambitious reimagining of Captain Blood, inspired by Rafael Sabatini’s classic novel. Far from a passing whim, Schwarzenegger was genuinely invested in the project.

“We possessed an exceptional screenplay for Captain Blood that had caught Warner Bros.’ attention,” Russell explained. “It promised a fresh, distinct interpretation of the classic pirate mythos.”

The role, immortalized by Errol Flynn in 1935, felt unconventional for a star known for hyper-modern blockbusters like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Last Action Hero. Despite the box-office catastrophe of 1995’s Cutthroat Island, Russell remained convinced that Schwarzenegger possessed the magnetic gravitas necessary to carry a large-scale pirate epic.

“There was a running joke about Arnold wearing tights,” Russell laughed. “I immediately shut that down. I insisted he wouldn’t be caught dead in them. Instead, I commissioned a painting of him in rugged leather trousers, and it looked absolutely iconic.” Concept artist Morgan Weistling captured this vision in the piece below.

Illustration: Morgan Weistling via Heritage Auction

The venture blossomed after the massive success of The Mask, with Russell collaborating with screenwriter Frank Darabont—later famous for The Shawshank Redemption—to craft a gritty, modern script.

“Arnold was eager for me to direct his next project because he was a fan of The Mask,” Russell noted. “It would have been a quintessential action film, arguably setting the tone for the adventure that Pirates of the Caribbean would later master.”

However, the project stalled as another opportunity emerged. Schwarzenegger brought the screenplay for Eraser to the table, and Warner Bros. pivoted, seeing a project that was ready for immediate production.

“Eraser had an urgent momentum,” Russell admitted. “Captain Blood, by comparison, was trapped in the slow crawl of early development.”

When asked why the pirate odyssey never set sail, Russell conceded that the industry’s fickleness is often to blame. “It’s rarely one factor. These massive budget films require every star to align. I truly loved the concept, but such is the volatile nature of the film business.”

Ultimately, Schwarzenegger traded a cutlass for high-tech railguns and parachutes in Eraser. We are left only to imagine the version of the film that could have been. Stay tuned for more insights from Russell on the production of Eraser later this week.

Source: Polygon